Talking-machine motor.



E. E. TALIAFERRO.

TALKING MACHINE MOTOR..

APPLICATION mm FEB. 18. 1915. RENEWED AUG. 13.19n..

l,@61 96 Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

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EDWARD E. TALIAIFEIRRO, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

TALKING-MACHINE MOTOR.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

Application filed February 18, 1915, Serial No. 9,121. Renewed August 13, 1917. Serial No. 186,056.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. TALIA- rnnno, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Talking-Machine Motors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to talking machines and other devices for reproducing sound from a permanent record.

In talking machines of the present day the sound reproducing apparatus usually consists of a sound record having undulating grooves representing the sound waves recorded and a stylus vibrating in. response to the undulations of the grooves. \Vhen it is desired to reproduce sound or play the selection the record, which is generally in the form of a disk or cylinder, is placed on a suitable turn-table or cylindrical support, a the case may be, and rotated against the stylus. The stylus travels in the sound grooves and vibrates in response to the undulations in the grooves, producing sounds corresponding to the sounds recorded, the sounds being amplified by a tone arm or horn. An important problem in the art of reproducing sound from a permanent record has been to provide a suitable motor for 1mparting the motion to the record support which motion will have the property of being uniform and continuous without variation. In the majority of cases, talking machine of the present day are equipped with spring motors and have given a limited degree of satisfaction when the sound record is not toolong and if the spring is kept tightly wound continuously. A grave objection to the use of spring motorsfor sound reproducing purposes, however, lies in the fact that the power of the motor decreases in direct proportion to the unwinding of the spring, and consequently the speed of the record support gradually lackens as'the record is played. This variation of motion causes the vibrations of the recording or reproducing stylus to become less and less frequent, which results n a contlnuous ha i p tch at th s ed recorded 9 r produced, as th case may be. Such changes of pitch are exceedingly annoying to the musical ear and have heretofore been a great drawback to the artistic development of the talking machine.

The object of my invention is to provide a motor for a record support which will have the property of continuously impartmg a uniform motion to the support without any variation, and in which the same rate of movement is continuously maintained from the beginning of the record to its end, regar'dless of its length. Such a motor dispenses altogether with annoying changes in pitch of the sound reproduced and consequently renders the playing of the record much more effective and a truer reproduction of the original selection.

The motor constructed in accordance with my invention will be automatically continuously wound without interfering with the direct drive of the reCOICl support and the rate of movement of the support will be the same when the motor is nearly unwound as at the beginning of its motion. I

A full understanding of the invention will be attained from the following detailed decription of a construction embodying the same in a preferred form, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. in which,

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a talking machine embodying the present improvements.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is a detail view of an improved make and break device incorporated in the electric circuit.

Th talking machine shown in the drawings is of the cabinet or hornless type and consists generally of a cabinet A having a hinged top A to permit'access to the reproducer and turn-table chamber a, sound opening a controlled by sound regulating doors a and record cabinet a In the present instance my invention has beenadapted for use in connection with a talking machine of the disk type, that is the type in which the sound records containing the selection to be reproduced are in the form of disks. It will be understood, of course, that the invention is of equal application with other types of talking machines and that the illustration the drawings is whichwill be readily, understood as'beingv of a construction well known in the art.

The reproducer C having a reproducing stylus cis' mounted over the turnable B on the end of the tonearm .C which arm is swiveled in the usualmanner to the base a of thechamber a and is connected with an amplifying horn G located within the cabinet and extending to the sound opening a.

In the space below the chamber base a? is mounted'a casting D which casting. maybe ofv any suitable construction adaptable to form a support vfor the connections between the. improved motor for generating the rotary motion. and the turntable B. The

turn-table B is mounted on the end of'a shaft 6' for rotation with theshaft. Shaft 51 extends through the base a of the chamber a andis journaled in thecasting D. The shaft 12' carries, at its end opposite to the turn:

table, a pin 6 which projects through a socket in the armd of the. casting D and frictionall en a esa ball-bearin d in the, y a a b.

bottom-. of thesocket. Adjustment of the ball-bearing to vary its frictional" engagement with the pin 6 may be effected by meansof an adjusting screw (1 Fixedlon the shaft 6 is a pinion b which mesheswith a large gear 6 mounted on a shaft (2. which is journaled at its ends in the extremities ofthearms (Z andval of the casting D. The large gear 6 is adapted to be rotated by means of a drum E mounted on theshaft' 6" when rotary motion is imparted ,to the drum by means of a falling weight, as will be vpresentlyv described; Wound about/the drum E is a cord f which cord is endless and. extends from the drum E over a guide roller 7 around a pulley block F from which is suspended a weight F. The weight F is adapted to travel within a hollow, shaft or elongated chamber G suitably formed by partitions in the interior of the record cabinet A andfalling of the weight within the shaftG pulls the cord f against the surface ofthe drum E and imparts a continuous uniform motion thereto which is transmitted to the turn-table through the gear connections above described. The advantage of employing a weight for rotating the drum E lies in the fact that the power of the weight is exactly the same when the weight is nearly at the end of its travel down the 6 0 shaftl as it is" at the beginning of its traveltsothat no. appreciable variation of Increment of: the drum E. results, and the turn r-table B is rotated with 'a continuous uniformmnvement:

1 The" invent on provides means fbr autm matically preventing the aveight motor from becoming unwound, and for automatically returning the weight F to the upper portion of the shaft (it before it reaches its end of travel down the shaft, so that no matter when the turn-table brake is released, the-motoris always in conditionto impart. a continuous, uniform rotary movement to the turn-table. This is a distinct advantage in the talking machine art, for not only is themotor always responsive to rotate the turn-table upon release of the brake, but also any variation of movement during the progress of reproducing the sounds recorded on the record is altogether prevented, for before the weight can reach a period. in its travel'whenit would strike the bottom of the shaft, the automatic re-winding device becomes instantly effective to return the weight immediately to the top of the shaft: For this purpose the endless weight bearing cord f extends from the power drum it around guide pulleys h, h to and overarcwinding drum H, which when rotary motion is imparted theretoacts to draw theweigh t F to the top of. shaft G by exerting a positive pull'on the endless cord f; From the, windingdrum H thecord fpasses over idler rolls 1i, 71 back to thepulle 7 block 7. As a result of this arran ement" the'rewindin Accordingly the power effect of the-weight attached to the power drum, is never removed, and is equally effective to. positively 1 rotate the power drum E, whenthe rewind ing drum H is returning'theweight to the top of the shaft. Therewinding drum-may be conveniently located in a chamber or shaft K inclosed within the cabinet of the talk ing' machine, and'positive rotary movement is imparted thereto by an electric motonM atthe desired time in the following manner:

The winding drum H is mounted on' a shaft it? journale'd: in suitable brackets-h restingonthe base of-the chamber K. Fixed onthe shaft k is alarge' gear wheel 72, preferably ,of that type. having helical teeth which are in mesh with the teeth of a pin ion m, mounted on the motor shaft m of the electric motor M. Current for operating the electric motor M may be supplied through a plug N which can be connected we-ightf motor, in such manner that: the mo tor "M "and rewindingdrum are directly responsive to the weight motor, and act automatically to rewind it, when the weight F has reached a predetermined point of travel down the shaft G.

For this purpose, the circuit wires 1 and 2 are connected to a trip switch preferred form of trip switch is one which will act positively to close the motor circuit when the weight F has reached a predetermined position in its travel down the shaft G and also to positively open the motor circuit when the weight has reached a predetermined elevated position. A switch having these characteristics is illustrated in detail in Fig. 3. Mounted on the base 0 are spring contact members 0', 0 which are the motor circuit is closed, and rewinding of the weight motor commences. To insure a positive action of the switch member, it is connected with a wire spring 0 arranged to snap it into make or break position with respect to the contact members when the trigger 0 is tripped. The entire switch 0, with the exception of the trigger 0* is preferably recessed in the weight to prevent interference with any of its parts by the sidewalls of the shaft G, so as to injure them. Projecting from a wall of the shaft G are pins P, R, the pin P being at the upper portion of the shaft, and the pin R at the lower portion of the shaft and so arranged that it will strike the trigger 0* to close the motor circuit before the weight F has reached the extreme lower limit of its travel. When the weight F has been elevated to such a degree that the trigger 0 strikes the pin 1?, the trigger is tripped to break the motor circuit and stop the rewinding operation.

For the purpose of insuring a positive engagement of the cord f with the drums E and H, a supplementary weight S mounted on a pulley block 8 is provided around which the cord f passes. The supplementary weight takes up any slack in the cord and may be conveniently located intermediate the guide rollers h, h.

To further insure a uniform speed of the sound record, the turn-table B is provided with a centrifugal governor T mounted on the shaft 6, but slidable thereon. Attached to the governor T is a tube t also slidable on shaft 6, and this tube carries at its lower end a friction disk 6'. Slidable on the shaft 0 carried h by the weight F and movable with it. The

is a second friction disk t mounted on the end of a lever arm 6 pivoted on the casting D. The lever arm t is controlled by an adjusting screw '27. will be noted that adjustment of the screw 25 will be effective to regulate the amount of friction between disk-s t, t and consequently the speed of the turn-table.

The turn-table brake V is of conventional type and in fact, any preferred form of brake may be employed.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my-invention, it will be understood that the same is not to be limited to the details of construction, but on the contrary is capable of wide modification and variation within the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. In a talking machine, the combination of a sound record support, and a driving mechanism for furnishing constant, uniform driving power to the sound record support, embodying a weight motor having a driving connection with the sound record support and opposing the resistance to drive of said support with constant uniform power, and means operable before the weight motor has exhausted its driving power to rewind the weight motor without removing from the sound record support the direct drive by the weight motor.

2. In a talking machine, the combination of a sound record support, and a driving mechanism for furnishing constant, uniform driving power to the sound record support, embodying a weight motor having a driving connection with the sound record support and opposing the resistance to drive of said support with constant uniform power, and electrically operated connections operable automatically before the weight motor has exhausted its driving power to rewind the weight motor without removing from the sound record support the direct drive by the weight motor.

8. In a talking machine, the combination of a sound record support, and a driving mechanism for furnishing constant, uniform, driving power to the sound record support, embodying a weight motor having a driving connection with the sound record support and opposing the resistance to drive of said support with constant, uniform power, a winding drum for rewinding the weight motor without removing from the sound record support the direct drive by the weight motor, and an electric motor connected to the winding drum and automatically operative before the weight motor becomes unwound.

4:. In a talking machine, the combination of a sound record support, and a driving mechanlsm for furnishing constant, uniform From the foregoing, it

support with constant, uniform power, a

mammdriyingpawen tothe.:sound-:necord support; mutoigandmeans-fonenergizing therwindr. embodyingiaiweightmotorhavinga driving ing drum 'beforeihe weightrmotorrbuecomes 1 conneetionwith the -s0und:. .rec0rdz support unwound. and opposing theeresistanceto drive of said TALIAFERROY I Witnesses: I

MYRA: A. ALLEN, H

HOMER D. GRAHAM.

Winding-drumzfor rewinding. the weight m0.- tor Without; removing. from. the. sound' rec-- 0rd support the direct. drive byithei-Weig ht eopie suotithisipatent,may he obtainedaforfivecents each; by 'addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington; D. C. 

